April 26, 1986, is a date that stirs deep emotions for many Europeans. That
was the day a series of explosions rocked the Chernobyl nuclear power plant,
sending deadly radiation across 62,000 square miles of the former Soviet Union
and parts of Europe. The Ukrainian Health Ministry reports more than 3,500 people
died from the accident. Greenpeace Ukraine estimates the death toll may have
been as high as 32,000. Today, more than 15 years after the accident, engineers
continue attempts to stabilize the crumbling structure and prevent additional
radiation releases.
Many Europeans now remember the Chernobyl accident as a turning point in their
environmental awareness. Since the accident, European nations have taken the
lead in creative efforts to promote sustainability. Several of these efforts
originated in Germany.
"After the Second World War, children asked their parents, why didn’t
you do anything against Hitler?" said Karlheinz
Ermann, a school teacher in Erlangen, Germany. "I want to have an answer
if my children ask me what I did after 1986—after Chernobyl. I can say
I tried to do something."
Ermann teaches students from fifth grade through high school. His history classes
help students learn from the past and plan for a more sustainable future.
"You must not wait so long that things go in the wrong way," Ermann
said. "You must try to have an influence maybe, or to change anything you
think is not okay."
German environment minister Klaus Topfer initiated a sweeping change in 1991
when he introduced a comprehensive plan to reduce packaging waste. The law makes
manufacturers responsible for the products and packaging they produce, even
after they have sold them to buyers. It requires industries to pre-pay fees
for the collection and recycling of their packaging and enacts stiff fees for
waste disposal. The law produced results. Recycling rates for packaging went
from 12 percent in 1992 to 86 percent in 1997.
Today, this system is spreading across Europe and is showing up on other continents
as well. By the end of 1998, 28 countries had implemented "takeback"
laws for packaging, 16 for batteries, and 12 were planning takeback laws for
electronics. Factories producing everything from televisions to automobiles
are now designing products that can be easily disassembled and recycled, since
the cost of post-consumer disposal is prohibitive. Parts are bar-coded to identify
material types and instructions on reuse.
Tax reform
is another way that Europe is addressing sustainability. Today, 95 percent of
the $7.5 trillion in tax revenues raised each year worldwide comes from levies
on payrolls, personal income, corporate profits, capital gains, retail sales,
trade, and property. This is essentially a penalty on work and investment.
Some European countries are now shifting their taxes—from things they want,
such as work and investment—to things they do not want, such as pollution.
Sweden was one of the first to enact the tax-shifting idea. In 1991, the government
collected $2.4 billion from new taxes on carbon and sulfur dioxide emissions,
using the money to cut income taxes.
A related issue that affects sustainability in countries around the world is
government-backed subsidies. Worldwide, subsidies worth at least $650 billion—equivalent
to 9 percent of all government revenue—support logging, mining, oil drilling,
livestock grazing, farming, fishing, energy use, and driving. That amount far
exceeds what is spent on environmentally protective subsidies such as soil-conserving
farming practices or alternative energy development.
Several European governments have recently cut environmentally harmful subsidies,
yet what remains worldwide could pay for an eight percent cut in the global
tax burden. Even Germany, a country that has been progressive in its sustainability
efforts, continues to heavily subsidize coal mining. This is an industry that
increases environmental degradation and pollution and adds large amounts of
carbon dioxide to the atmosphere.
Pressure to consume material goods has entered most corners of Europe. People
are exposed to advertising much like we are in the United States. Still, many
in Europe are resisting the temptation to "buy ‘til they are satisfied."
Individuals are making a conscious effort to reduce consumption for what they
say is a better quality of life.
Gunther Dillig is a sales person for the light
rail division of Siemens Corporation in Erlangen, Germany. He does not own a
car. Dillig rides his bicycle to work—rain or shine. He and his wife, Dagmar,
buy fresh food from local farmers, recycle extensively and compost leftover
kitchen scraps in their backyard. Dagmar hangs the family’s laundry on
a clothesline, as they do not own a dryer. Both say they live simply and choose
not to consume like Americans do because this is the way they want to live.
"I’m quite okay with the way we are doing things. I think it comes
from thinking about things—how they are, how they should be, and how they
can be changed," said Gunther.
Dagmar agrees. "There is a close relationship between the way I live and
my religious beliefs," she said. "This world has been created by God
and we must preserve it as it was given to us by Him."
Several hours to the west, in Heidelburg, Germany, Edith Rothermel works for
Becton, Dickinson, and Company, an American health care firm. She walks to work
and other destinations whenever she can, even though she owns a car.
"We are not doing good things to this world—definitely not,"
she said.
"I’m lucky enough to be old enough that I can make it through my life
in a good way, but I would not have a good feeling for children and grandchildren
because they will live a totally, totally different life than we do."
Rothermel says she feels the temptation to consume, but chooses to find happiness
in other ways.
"You can think you have a better life when you consume things, but I don’t
think that’s the real meaning of life," Rothermel said. There are
so much more important values you can have. You can be very happy with the simple
things in life."